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The Reluctant Astronaut

1967, Movie, NR, 101 mins

The Reluctant Astronaut: Review

Knotts plays a man with an exaggerated fear of heights who, through a weird series of events, finds himself an astronaut. It all starts when his rather pushy father enlists him in an astronaut training program, with graduate Knotts being assigned the job of janitor's assistant. He loses this job, however, when he tries to show off to his father and friends by donning a space suit and showing them around the base. But when there is a search for the least-qualified candidate to go on a mission, Knotts is called up for duty. His exploits in space make him a hero, winning him the hand of Freeman. A little joke is carried a bit too far, with Knotts stereotyped into the role of the total nincompoop, incapable of doing much of anything. The possibility for some sharp satire, in the vein of Charlie Chaplin, is somewhere beneath this characterization, but it's never explored, making Knotts little more than an idiot who winningly gets himself into absurd situations. Other roles in this picture are basically caricatures, although very good ones. leave a comment